A friend of mine sent me a CD featuring a minister from her church and towards the end of the sermon the minister began to prophesy to specific people that were in the church at the time he was speaking. Later on in the day, I began to think about the gift of prophecy and how it is used in the body of Christ.
A thought popped into my mind: What is the difference between a prophet (one who has been given the gift of prophetic utterance) and a psychic?
The answer came just as quickly: A psychic generally claims to know your entire future. A prophet only knows what God shows him/her about your future.
It is a fine line but a definitive one. I think many times church folk will approach a prophet like a psychic; desiring to know the who, what, when, where, and how of their lives. However, a prophet is a vessel through which God speaks and we already know that God doesn’t tell us everything upfront…so why would his prophet do so? God tells us things related to our purpose and destiny based upon His divine will and timing (for a specific season in our lives)…and our ability to receive and respond appropriately to what He saying. Approaching the prophets of God like they are psychics (or being a prophet and operating in your gift that way) is akin to witchcraft. Be careful.
TML
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